Pop and Fam Go to Thailand – Part 2

Most parents will tell you that their parenting performance and patience often coincides with the amount of sleep they are getting. Or maybe it’s just me. In any event, I didn’t get much sleep because 1) the hotel room didn’t have a thermostat and the room was cold, 2) just outside of our room was a speaker system for the airport that blared as flights arrived and passengers boarded throughout the night, and 3) D2 somehow ends up sideways and/or performs innate wrestling maneuvers on me whenever we sleep on the same bed. Safe to say I was pretty exhausted.

We got the kids ready and headed to breakfast, which was included with our room reservation. For those of you who’ve applauded my wife and my stupidity bravery for traveling internationally with two kids, this was the thought that scared me even more: we’d essentially be eating out for every meal for one whole month. You see, there was a time when my wife and I enjoyed going out to eat, but now, we rush through meals outside of our home as quickly as possible. If Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale brings out the crazy in shoppers, eating out brings out the crazy in babies. Combined with the fact that D1 has been getting incredibly picky with her food, I certainly wasn’t looking forward to meals. This was made even more depressing since the only thing my wife and I love more than the wonderful people in Thailand is their food.

In any event, we made it through breakfast and after some difficulty finding our gate, we boarded our flight to Chiang Rai.

Traveling with Kids Tip #1: Simply asking your child, “Do you need to pee?” is not sufficient. Remember how neurotic you may have been for your first child’s feeds, even spending money on things like the Itzbeen, and calling your pediatrician because your newborn hasn’t had a wet diaper in a while? This is how you need to be when you’re traveling with kids. If it’s been a while since your child has gone to the potty, you need to sit ’em down on the pot and use Jedi mind tricks, the shhhhhhhhhhhhhh or UNGaaaaaah sounds, or whatever else you can think of to coax them into answering nature’s call. Even if it’s the tiniest drop of pee, trust me, that tiny drop could mean the difference between making it to the potty the next time. Also, you haven’t really lived until you’ve had to climb a massive hill to your hotel with a child that just said she needs to poop, your legs and lungs failing you.

After 36 hours of traveling, we made it to Chiang Rai, Thailand! We were greeted by our pastor friend at the airport and all the madness of traveling with 2 kids instantly disappeared. D1 was super excited as she got to ride in a car without a carseat. We settled into our guesthouse, which we would call home for the next month.

The rest of our missions team was arriving in about a week and my family and I enjoyed a great time of enjoying the beautiful sights and catching up with old friends. We also got to enjoy this goodness:

Thai BBQ Chicken with Tamarind BBQ Sauce

Fresh BBQ chicken. The chicken in Thailand are puny compared to their American counterparts since they generally don’t use any growth hormones. The chickens sold at this particular shop are free-range and delicious!

Thai BBQ Pork

This may sound like heresy but this tastes better than bacon, mostly because it’s smoked bacon with the skin on and cooked to crunchy perfection.

Mister DONUT!

And of course, Mister Donut! The only thing Stateside that I know of that comes close to these donuts is Einstein Bros. Bagels – the donuts are made of some sort of rice flour so they’re really chewy and have all the fried taste without any of the grease.

After some near disasters with the “do you have to pee?” question, we finally made a rule that any time we’re near a bathroom and we say he has to try, our oldest MUST go in and at least try. He pees every time. Usually after saying, “But I don’t HAVE to go!”